Fourteener Ridge Traverse (Little Bear - Blanca - Ellingwood)
July 31 -
August 2, 1998
Author:
Mike Sullivan
Participants: Mike Sullivan, Ingeborg Sacksen
The ridge between Blanca and Little Bear Peak is a mile long and varies
in elevation from 13,600' to 14,300'. In most places it is less than
three feet wide, with up to a 1500' chasm on both sides. In Gerry
Roach's Fourteeners Guidebook, it is described as "Colorado's most
astonishing connecting ridge," and is rated 5.0 - 5.2. Beyond the summit
of Blanca, the ridge curves left in a half-mile graceful arc over to
Ellingwood Point. A handful of notches and towers provide some more easy
fifth class terrain, but these can be bypassed on the left.
Ingeborg and I left her home in Alamosa on Friday afternoon, planning to
bivy on Friday night, do all three peaks on Saturday, then descend
Sunday morning. The hike in was pleasant, and we set up camp on the
scenic bench between Lake Como and Blue Lakes. My rain karma from the
Tetons was still intact, and we were hit by a heavy-duty hailstorm just
ten minutes after setting up the tent.
The sky was still overcast when the morning alarm went off. We waited
for a while and decided to head up the route when a sucker hole of clear
sky appeared overhead. We ascended the gully just south of our camp,
which provides access to Little Bear's West Ridge. We climbed the ridge
in drifting fog, and soon made the traverse to the base of the southwest
gully, at 13,300'. The gully was in full waterfall mode from the recent
rain. With the weather and the route looking pretty nasty, we sat for a
few minutes to discuss options and wait for some sign of change from the
weather.
We got our sign. We began to hear thunder rumbling up from the
southeast, and it started to rain again. We bailed - fast! During the
ten minutes it took us to return to the ridge, the storm caught us. The
ridge around us made a buzzing sound which turned into an angry sizzle
every time a bolt struck nearby. As the strikes grew closer, I noticed
that the rocks began to emanate an eerie blue light. A bolt hit the
ridge just behind us and we practically did wheelies trying to
thirdclass/sprint over the wet ridgetop. We dove down the gully with a
major wave of relief. We made it back to the tent at 8 AM - soaked and
exhilarated.
It rained most of the day, and we passed the time inside the tent. The
storm broke right before sunset, and everything looked magical in the
clear mountain light following the rain. Once again, we set the alarm
for 4 AM, and woke up to a crystalline starry sky. We started climbing
by headlamp at 4:20, and reached the traverse to the southwest gully at
dawn. We climbed the wet rock to the left of the waterfall, and
encountered one or two patches of verglas that added an extra pinch of
spice to the ascent. This stretch was unquestionably the crux of the
entire route.
We topped out on Little Bear at 7:00, and found a sheltered spot to soak
up the sunshine, have a snack, and preview the ridge. It looked pretty
scary, buy hey, it's only supposed to be 5.2... We put our rock shoes on
and started the downclimb onto the ridge. We quickly discovered that the
ridge was incredibly fun! The rock quality was pretty good, and it
seemed fairly easy to locate and avoid questionable holds. We cruised up
and over gendarmes and notches, and I even climbed the famed Captain
Bivwacko Tower. (Definitely harder than 5.2.) All in all, we stayed
pretty squarely on the ridgetop, but did traverse around Point 13,860.
The ridge turned into an airy stroll soon after that, and we found
ourselves on top of Blanca around 9:30. Cool! We celebrated with summit
photos, gatorade, and a few chocolate kisses. After a half hour of
loafing, we put our hiking boots back on and set off down the ridge to
Ellingwood. We stayed right along the brink of Blanca's North Face,
trying to get some visual beta on the rock down there. I was feeling
pretty swell-headed about our blazing pace, and proceeded to climb each
tower and notch along the ridge, while Ingeborg made a few hilarious
comments about testosterone poisoning. We raced each other to the top of
Ellingwood, and loafed some more as we finished up the chocolate and
watched the morning rush hour hikers clotting up the standard route on
Blanca. We eventually scrambled down to the main trail and completed the
loop back to our camp at 1 PM.
This was definitely the most satisfying fourteener outing I've ever
done, and I'd give it a five star rating. However, it is a potentially
serious route, with a great deal of commitment, exposure, and
semi-technical mileage. Retreat is virtually impossible once you are on
the main ridge, and it would be very unpleasant in bad weather. We
somehow managed to do the loop in under nine hours, but unless you've
done a few other routes of a similar nature and length, you should
probably expect this climb to take longer. Check out the guidebooks by
Lou Dawson and Gerry Roach for more info, and go do it!
